Apple snags bags of chips

REPORTS THAT APPLE IS BUYING every bit of NAND memory it can lay its mitts on are fuelling rumours about the company's upcoming roadmap.

A report by Think Equity Partners says that Apple's current round of feverish acquisition of memory chips is having an effect on the entire market and may even push spot prices up in a tempestuous market already made jittery by looming recession and threats of factory closures.

And the fact that the Cupertino company has apparently snatched up Samsung's entire inventory of memory chips for the period up to April 2009 is fuelling rumours that an Iphone refresh is around the corner, with some commentators even optimistically predicting a June launch.

And as most large manufacturers buy the chips they need as close to the start of production as possible to avoid being clobbered by fluctuating prices, there could be a sliver of truth in the rumours.

Then again, Apple could just be stockpiling inventory as the flash RAM industry in general, and Micron in particular, teeters about on the brink of disaster. µ

L'Inq
Apple Insider